Abstract
In his forward to Curriculum in Abundance (2006), curriculum theorist William
Pinar suggests that education should offer opportunities for self-formation which
include the cultivation of our capacity to surrender, begin again, and dwell in
possibility. This paper examines the theory and art education practices of a
forgotten and often undervalued art educator, Henry Schaefer-Simmern, whose
methodology seems congruent with some of the goals of holistic education today.
Substantial insights were gleaned through interviews with one of his former
students, Professor Emeritus of Art Education, Roy Abrahamson. Dr.
Abrahamson's collection of published and unpublished papers on Schaefer-
Simmern, his art work done under Schaefer-Simmern's direction, and his collection
of student work extended my understanding of an alternative, yet viable, holistic
approach to teaching and learning. Another look at this kind of art instruction is
valuable as a part of a contemporary holistic practice.